Differentiated effect of advertising: Joint vs. separate consumption

In a context of intense competition, cooperative advertising between firms is critical. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to analyze the potential differentiated effect of advertising on two basic consumption patterns: individual products (i.e. hotel, restaurant) vs. bundle (i.e. hotel + restaurant). This research adds to the extant literature in that, for the first time, this potential differentiated effect is examined through a hierarchical modelling framework that reflects the way people make their decisions: first, they decide whether to visit or not a region; second, whether to purchase an advertised product in that region; and third, whether to buy products together or separately at the region. The empirical analysis, applied to a sample of 11,288 individuals, shows that the influence of advertising is positive for the decisions to visit and to purchase; however, when it comes to the joint or separate consumption, advertising has a differentiated effect: its impact is much greater on the joint alternative (“hotel + restaurant”) than the separate options (“hotel” and “restaurant”). Also, the variable distance moderates the advertising effect

Multiproduct Multiperiod Newsvendor Problem with Dynamic Market Efforts

We study a multiperiod multiproduct production planning problem where the production capacity and the marketing effort on demand are both considered. The accumulative impact of marketing effort on demand is captured by the Nerlove and Arrow (N-A) advertising model. The problem is formulated as a discrete-time, finite-horizon dynamic optimization problem, which can be viewed as an extension to the classic newsvendor problem by integrating with the N-A model. A Lagrangian relaxation based solution approach is developed to solve the problem, in which the subgradient algorithm is used to find an upper bound of the solution and a feasibility heuristic algorithm is proposed to search for a feasible lower bound. Twelve kinds of instances with different problem size involving up to 50 products and 15 planning periods are randomly generated and used to test the Lagrangian heuristic algorithm. Computational results show that the proposed approach can obtain near optimal solutions for all the instances in very short CPU time, which is less than 90 seconds even for the largest instance

An Econometric Workbench for Comparing the Substantive and Dominance Tests in Horizontal Merger Analysis

We investigate for the individual and relative accuracy of two major market power tests: the Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI), and the merger simulation model of unilateral effects. We propose a methodology to compare the predictive and screening power of both tests by implementing them in a hypothetical economy. We find that when a structural econometric approach is missed (substantive test) the concentration approach (dominance test) is biased upwards. We also find that the substantive test is influenced by the market size or more precisely the market size of the outside good. In particular, when it is large, a decision based on the HHI test would have nothing to do with a decision based on the unilateral effects test. Still, in the overall, the substantive test performs better in capturing the true situation of the market compared to the dominance test of concentration.mergers, antitrust, differentiated product markets, simulation

Multi-criteria media mix decision model for advertising multiple product with segment specific and mass media

Judicious media planning decisions are crucial for successful advertising of products. Media planners extensively use mathematical models supplemented with market research and expert opinion to devise the media plans. Media planning models discussed in the literature largely focus on single products with limited studies related to the multi-product media planning. In this paper we propose a media planning model to allocate limited advertising budget among multiple products advertised in a segmented market and determine the number of advertisements to be given in different media. The proposed model is formulated considering both segment specific and mass media vehicles to maximize the total advertising reach for each product. The model also incorporates the cross product effect of advertising of one product on the other. The proposed formulation is a multi-objective linear integer programming model and interactive linear integer goal programming is discussed to solve the model. A real life case study is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed model

Canadian Chicken Industry: Consumer Preferences, Industry Structure and Producer Benefits from Investment in Research and Advertising

The Canadian chicken industry has operated under supply management since the mid-1970s. Canadian consumer preferences for chicken have grown dramatically since then possibly in response to concerns about health and the levels of fat and cholesterol in red meats. However Canadian consumers are also looking for convenience with their food purchases. Canadians are buying their chicken in frozen further processed forms, fresh by cut without skin and bone and in a variety of other different ways reflecting their unique willingness to pay for various attributes. There is also an increasing trend for retailers and processors to brand the fresh chicken product sold through grocery stores (for example, Maple Leaf Prime). The preferences Canadian consumer have for various chicken products, the prices they are comfortable paying and the strategies followed by processors/retailers can directly affect the outcomes of industry wide strategies such as investment in generic advertising and research or the impact of international market changes such as border closures. This research is an initial attempt to quantify Canadian consumer preferences – for fresh product by type – for product by level of processing – for chicken product by cut - for fresh chicken by brand - to examine the impact of substitutability on a variety of market shocks. The various different disaggregations of Canadian chicken consumption are used in a number of simulation models to illustrate how important preferences are to producer returns when there are market shocks. If Canadians found all chicken products available in the grocery store to be perfectly substitutable then previous policy analysis assuming chicken is one homogeneous product would be sufficient for industry policy analysis purposes. If Canadians view all the different chicken products as imperfectly substitutable and given that various chicken products are produced in relatively fixed proportions (white and dark meat, for example) further understanding of how consumers make their purchase decisions could enhance the industries ability to predict outcomes. For example, border closing to Canadian exports ( as a result of an Avian influenza outbreak, for example) would result in a significant increase in the dark meat products available for sale through Canadian grocery stores. The results presented in this research could provide a clue as to how much dark meat prices might decline while white meat prices might remain unaffected. The results reported suggest that at the consumer level, chicken fresh and frozen products are not perceived to be perfect substitutes, within a narrow category such as fresh chicken breasts, they are not perceived as even close substitutes, within the fresh category branded products such as those developed by Lilydale and Maple Leaf are not perceived as perfect substitutes. As well, an initial look at the demand for individual chicken products by household suggests that there is far from a common buying pattern across Canadian households, even within a single province. The results also suggest that health and convenience attributes are driving Canadian consumer preferences. Simulation results highlight the fact that pricing strategies followed by major processors/retailers within Canada can influence the returns to generic advertising and research. Further research could provide additional robust estimates of the chicken product substitutability existing in the Canadian market and an increased understanding of the market characteristics currently operating. The results presented here suggest that further work in this area is important for the chicken industry to pursue.consumer behaviour, chicken consumption, differentiated products, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, D12, Q11, Q18,

Estimating Brand Level Price Elasticities for the Margarine Industry: A Two-Stage Budget Approach

The congressional elections of 1994 rocked Washington and the country with the ousting of the Democratic party\u27s long-standing control of the Congress. Less than two years later radical welfare reductions were signed into law by the democratic president. The reemergence of conservative ideology has brought calls for the slashing of government programs and a renewed zeal for the free market. This enthusiasm for the market mechanism rests on the belief that unfettered economic exchange will yield the most efficient allocation of resources to society. This belief is based on the implicit assumption that markets tend to be competitive in the absence of governmental intervention. Given the growing demand to limit the government\u27s direct intervention in matters of the economy, it is imperative to know if and when markets are competitive. The solution to this question has been at the root of industrial organization since the 1950\u27 s with the early empirical work of economist Joe Bain. It is now over forty years later and there is still a lack of a definitive answer to this fundamental query. It is not from lack of effort - hundreds of theoretical and empirical papers have been published on this topic. Why the answer should be so elusive stems largely from two basic limitations to economic inquiry: Explicit and implicit political values influencing research. The difficulty in applying the experimental design to economic questions. The two are related of course, but each plays its own role in preventing economists - and society - from reaching definitive conclusions to economic problems

A Decomposition of the Sources of Incomplete Cross-Border Transmission

cross-border transmission: international price discrimination